NIH R03: Partners in Research PROJECT NO. RFA-OD-07-001 Ogca: 108-0917; GAMS:5495 Para un Futuro Mejor ABSTRACT OF RESEARCH PLAN Please use this format for your abstract whether or not you use this actual page. Principal Investigator/Program Director: Maria Idall TOITGS Project Title: Para un Futuro Mejor The abstract is a succinct and accurate description of your proposed work, and should be able to stand alone from the application as an accurate synopsis of your project as it Is included in the IR8 agenda. Please identify your objectives and specific aims, and describe concisely your methodology for achieving these objectives. Latina/o adolescents experience higher rates than their non-Latino peers for births, HIV Infection, and other sexually transmitted infections (STIs). Despite the significant influence of the Latino family on adolescent behavior, the role of parent-adolescent communication about sexual health protection has lot been widely explored. This developmental and exploratory Intervention research will test the Feasibility of a Photovoice approach to Improve Latino parents' communication with their high school adolescents about sexuality and sexual health, as well as to increase understanding of the use of research to support the integration of sexual health education into the high school curriculum. The mpetus for this intervention emerged from Latino members of the Public Health Club, a student-led organization at the Springfield High School of Science and Technology. Students from the Public Health Club sought the support of the University of MassachusettsSchool of Public Health, and the Springfield Health Center of the Planned ParenthoodLeagueof Massachusetts(PPLM) to pursue their ideas. The specific alms of this project are: (1) to establish a community partnership in Springfield, MA for participatory action research and scientific literacy focused on Latino youth sexual health protection, 2) to engage community partners In a participatory-action ethnographic analysis of facilitators and carriers to Latino/a parent-adolescentcommunication about sexuality, sexual health protection, and comprehensive sexuality education in high school, and (3) to develop and test the feasibility of an intervention protocol (Para un Futuro Mejor, or For a Better Future) to educate Latino/a parent-child dyads about utilizing research data to promote youth sexual health and to increase access to comprehensive sexual health education in public schools. rotocols and procedures for the 12-week intervention will be developed in conjunction with PPLMand the community partnership to ensure feasibility in content, context and process. Intervention participants will be recruited from the same combined pool of candidates available through the community partnership. Parents will engage In the own skills training workshops ("Talleres") for the irst five sessions to build their communication skills and then partner with their adolescent children to use Photovoice to deliver information about sexual health to peers and other influential in their community. Form 441: PROTECTION OF HUMAN SUBJECTS PROJECT NIH R03: Partners inResearch PROJECT NO. Ogca: 108-0917; RFA-OD-07-001 GAMS:5495 TITLE: Para un Futuro Mejor Describe the characteristics of the group(s) to be used: (If additionalspace is needed for anHem, usea separate sheet) a) Sex, race or ethnic group, age range, etc. All participants in this research will be Latino parents and their adolescents (ages15- 18). Both males and females will be represented in the parents and adolescent groups. Adolescent children 15to 18years of agewill comprise half of the participants. Latino/as adolescents (15-18)and their parents or adult caretakers. b) Affiliation of subjects, e.g..institutions, hospitals, general public, etc. CHARACTER- Latino/as English Language Learners (ELL) high school students who attend theSpringfield High School of Science and Technology and their parents or adult caretakers and Latfno/a parents who receive education or clinicalservices at the Springfield Center of the Planned Parenthood League of Massachusetts. ISTICS OF GROUP(S): c) Subjects' general state of health (mental andphysical) Good general health status. If human subjects are either children, mentally Incompetent, or legally restricted groups give explanation as to: a) The necessity for using these particular groups Required to accomplish the goal of the project: develop and test the feasibility of an intervention protocol to educate Latino/a parent-child dyads about utilizing research data to promote youth sexual health and to increase access to comprehensive sexual health education in public schools. SPECIAL a) Why adult "normal" groups cannot be used (specifically) GROUPS: The goal of the project can not be accomplished withparents only. What precautionary measures will be taken to Insure the protection of human subjects on physical, psychological, social, legal and other Issues? a) Type of consent to be obtained (written or oral) Both written and oral formats will be utilized. TYPE >) How and where will permission be recorded? Consent forms will be read aloud to the participants, who in turn will follow by reading t. If they agree to participate, they will be askedto sign the consent forms. At the beginning of each data collection activity, the interviewer or group facilitator will confirm confidentiality and the participant's right to refuse participation. English and Spanish versions of the adult consent form, adolescent assent form, and parental consent form are included in Appendices A, B, and C, respectively. OF CONSENT: c) If subjects are minors or mentally incompetent, describe how and by whom permission will be granted? Parents will be asked to consent to their participation and the participation of their adolescent. Adolescents will ask to sign a separate agreement for participation. At each interview, they will be reminded of their agreementand their consent taped recorded. What precautions will betaken to safeguard Identifiable records of Individuals? These questions also apply If you are using secondary sources of data. a) Consider the long range use of data (by you and others) To assure adolescent and parent confidentiality and accuracy of information, project staff will be extensively trained in data collection procedures. To assurethe confidentiality of all data and to avoid public disclosure of sensitive, personal information, all data will besafeguarded by assigning Identification numbers to participants and codes to data forms used for the project. ID numbers and codes will be used for interviews and project documents, such as transcriptions from education sessions. Identified documents will be kept in a secured filing cabinet in the Pi's office at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst. Sources of data include identification numbers for interview instruments, transcriptions andother written, visual, andaudio sources of data. All personal identification datawill bestored on a password protected removal hard drive. Data from this hard drive will be downloaded weeklyonto the Pi's desktop computer into a password protected master file. In order to assure security of the data, we will make weekly backup copies of this master file. Thesecopies will be stored in a secure area physically separatefrom the data management and analysis sections of the main project